The woman said she started bleeding after the attack in January and gave birth to a still-born baby a day later in the hospital.

india Updated: Feb 15, 2018 17:48 IST HT Correspondent Hindustan Times, Thiruvananthapuram The woman said the men were arrested o nly after her family staged a sit-in seeking action over the incident.(Representive Photo)

Seven workers of the CPI(M) were arrested on Thursday for assaulting a pregnant woman, who lost her baby, in January over a land dispute in Kozhikode district of north Kerala, police said.

Josna Baby alleged that the men were arrested only after her family staged a sit-in seeking action in front of the Kodenjery police station on Wednesday.

She said the police refused to lodge their complaint the first time they approached them due to political pressure.

The 28-year-old woman said a group of people led by the CPI(M) branch secretary barged into their house and started beating her husband over a dispute regarding a boundary. She said when she tried to save her husband she was pulled down and kicked on her stomach.

âEarlier, we had filed a complaint with the police about the land dispute and they had warned CPI(M) leader Sai dalavi and others not to disturb or threaten. Despite this they barged into our house on January 28 night and started attacking my husband,â she said.

Baby said she started bleeding after the attack and gave birth to a still-born baby a day later in the hospital.

She added that the accused surrendered in the police station only after the incident was highlighted in the media.

A senior Kozhikode district police officer said that the arrested were booked for unlawful assembly, causing the death of an unborn child and trespassing criminally. All the arrested men were later remanded in judicial custody by a local court.

However, the CPI(M) distanced itself from the incident, saying it was a private dispute and the party would look into it if any leaders were involved in the incident.

A woman driver was dragged out of her car by a group of party workers in November last year in Kollam after she allegedly brushed against their vehicle. The party suspended a leader of its youth wing Democratic Youth Federation of India.

Opposition parties condemned the attack on the pregnant woman.

âUnder the Marxist regime, it seems even babies are not safe in wombs. Law and order is precarious and party workers are ruling the state now. Even three days after the brutal murder of Congress worker Shuhaib in Kannur the CM is yet to condemn it,â said BJPâs state president Kummanam Rajasekharan.

Rajasekharan was referring to the Youth Congress leader, who died on Tuesday after he was attacked by unidentified men in north Keralaâs Kannur district a day earlier.